the sun shines from all angles

Tag Archives: canvas

In September, I got married. and it was the most incredible day ever. I have a lot to say about it but I’m waiting until I have one more piece… our wedding video. As a blogger and someone interested in recording our lives in some digital form, a journal of sorts – this blog… {possibly a new domain / name some day as I transition into being on a team}… I’m basically bursting @ the seams to blog about all the details and share it in the webspace for friends & family to experience. Some things just are worth the wait, you know? xx

In the meantime, i have a lot on my mind. And it basically has to do with what our time here on earth is made of. Deep, I know, but get to it… and this is my blog. A bit before we went to Hawaii (next post!), I’d been doing a lot of soul-searching. Life is so incredibly short… what do I want to make up my time while I’m here?

My now husband (eek!), showed me this video when we were lounging on Maui and I think the world needs to watch it, if they haven’t already. And if you have? Watch it again. And make your loved ones watch it. Put your life into perspective and consider with what you’re spending your 24 hours each day doing.

Um, whoa. I had a small internal panic attack when I watched that. Why didn’t someone show me that in high school? Freshman year?… When we were worried about the most trivial of things, stressed-out and drama-filled with events like Prom (who let me spend so much money on those high school formals?!… easily $5K… cringe).

As an adult, I’m trying to spend a bit of time each day reading sites like Quora or watching TED videos. To keep my brain fresh, keep it thinking. A few days ago, I read a question posted on Quora titled, “How can I thoroughly screw up my life.” Now, that’s a pretty deep inquiry. The answer, linked below, by Raqhav Upmanyu has many thoughts I align with. Especially now, as I’m in this phase of contemplation; wanting to shape my life in a way that brings fulfillment / happiness / experiences.

And I know this is entirely an opinion, so take everything he says with a grain of salt or whatever. But it’s a perspective I somewhat align with. It makes me think hard about what I want to make of my time left. He starts out saying the biggest mistake you can make is becoming a statistic and “settling for being a useless part of the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.” Me? I can’t live like that. I can’t be put through the motions and do a 9 to 5 in a cubicle and come out on the other end tired, stressed, lacking sleep, motivation and drive. That is exactly what I would turn into. And it’s not just in the business realm. I found myself watching the Oscars last night. At the end of it, I thought, ‘I just wasted 3 hours on something I don’t have any interest whatsoever in. I hadn’t seen a single movie that was nominated!? Emily, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” I could have been designing cards for my etsy business, reading the book I can’t seem to get through, laughing & connecting with my beautiful mama, sorting through yet another bin of crap I’ve saved over the years with some thought of needing it in a future time (more on that purging process later).

All in all, I want to get down on paper that today is February 29, 2016, Leap Day, an extra day for free just cause. I’m committing to making whatever mindset I’m chasing a reality. I want to make this life fulfilling and get everything I can out of it. I want to do things I enjoy doing, that bring me happiness and flex my creative muscles. I want to travel as much as possible. I want to experience everything. I want to take chances. I want to love crazily. I don’t want to be stressed. I don’t want to be burnt out. I want to be fresh + real + alive. I want to laugh + be optimistic + positive for 95% of my life. And yes, this a ridiculously lofty, insane goal but why can’t I try to shoot for it? It’s worth it to me to try.

Please don’t take this post as me pointing fingers. This is my online space to speak what’s on my mind; this is what I want to capture. And have my kids read someday. Hopefully they’ll think their mother was the baddest woman that ever lived who strived to make the most of her existence.

If I could pick something, anything, that describes how I’m feeling currently. It would be this canvas bag from @sugarboodesigns

In Vancouver, over the SeaWheeze weekend. There was a day I never got around to posting about. Chicago came and all of a sudden Ireland and here I am at home base with a small bit of free time to explain.

On our last free day in ‘Couv, we took a bus to the edge of the city. We took a ferry to the other side. And another bus to Lynn Canyon. A short but dangerously full suspension bridge led us to the canyon. As you can see, when we want to get somewhere, we get there.

Here are tons of hiking trails. Large trees and vines everywhere. We hiked along until we found an opening that led us down to a creek. A huge creek. Fresh water running like a bubbling brook. A large, powerful one. Washing over the smoothest, biggest rocks you’ve ever laid eyes on.

It was here that we stripped down to our swimsuits and worshipped the sun for the afternoon. There were very few other people… we just about had the place to ourselves. A little further down were 20 foot cliffs and waterfalls that daredevils were jumping off of. It felt like our own little slice of heaven. People packed picnics, read books, smoked a little dro. It felt straight out of The Beach and we spent many hours there. Who knows how long, time seemed to stand still. It didn’t matter. I could have stayed the rest of forever.

For some reason this spot meant so much to me. It felt so, pure. As silly as that sounds. All we needed was a swimsuit and a bottle of water.

The brook flowing over the rocks was absolutely freezing. We dared each other to dunk all the way underwater. I have never felt more refreshed, or alive in my life. You know that spot you go to when you close your eyes and daydream? This one is mine.
The other day, I got an email from Canvas on Demand about a special they were having. Order a canvas of any Instagram pic and it is 50% off.